Consolidating Perception to Avoid High Intensity, Extra Classes for Slacking to Steadily Accumulate Value

When more than half of the night had passed, Tang San was woken by the sound of the wind outside his window. He opened his eyes and looked at the book on plant-based Martial Soul perception that Yu Xiaogang had lent him. He didn't rush to get up – he had been tired from practicing perception and evasion half the night yesterday, so he needed to rest more before the morning training, and also figure out how to accumulate enough Slacking Value for the next round.

Wang Hu and the other two in the dormitory were still sound asleep. Tang San rolled over and closed his eyes to conserve his energy. It wasn't until the horn for morning training sounded outside that the three of them suddenly woke up, scrambling to put on their clothes. "Tang San, hurry up! Today's morning training is to consolidate perception and evasion. Teacher Zhang said he's increasing the difficulty, the speed of throwing wooden chips will be faster, and if you're late, you definitely won't keep up!" Wang Hu shouted while fastening his belt, his voice laced with urgency.

Tang San slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What's the rush? The horn just blew for the first time; there's still a quarter of an hour until assembly. I'll wash up first. You guys go ahead and grab a middle spot so you don't have to stand on the edge and get hit by wooden chips." He deliberately dawdled while looking for clothes. After Wang Hu and the other two had rushed out, he took his towel to wash up. He even deliberately fetched an extra basin of water to wash his face. By the time he walked towards the training grounds, a line had already formed.

[Proactively delayed arrival at morning training, avoiding early high-intensity preparation, Slacking Value +1, current total 5 points]

On the training grounds, Teacher Zhang held a basket of wooden chips, with two students standing beside him to help throw them. "Today we're practicing 'High-Speed Wooden Chip Perception and Evasion.' The wooden chips will be thirty percent faster than yesterday. Each person must evade twenty chips to pass; those who don't will be punished with eight laps!" As soon as Teacher Zhang finished speaking, the wooden chips in his hand flew out with a "whoosh."

Tang San stood at the back of the line and summoned his Blue Silver Grass. Unlike the others who spread their Blue Silver Grass to expand their perception range, he only let the leaves sway gently in front of him, deliberately slowing down his perception speed. Facing the high-speed flying wooden chips, he only evaded the twelve in front of him. The remaining eight "just happened" to brush past his clothes, appearing as if he couldn't keep up with the speed.

"Tang San, why did you only evade twelve? Speed up!" Teacher Zhang walked over, frowning. "Didn't I teach you perception acceleration techniques yesterday? Why are you still so slow?"

"Teacher, my Soul Power is weak, and I can't speed up my perception. If it's too fast, I get dizzy. I can only evade as much as I can," Tang San said, feigning unsteady steps and leaning on a nearby classmate. "Look, evading those twelve just now consumed half of my Soul Power. If I go any faster, I won't be able to hold on."

[Used "insufficient Soul Power" as an excuse to reduce evasion speed, avoiding excessive consumption, Slacking Value +1, current total 6 points]

Teacher Zhang didn't say anything more, only telling him to "practice again." During the second practice, Tang San still only evaded thirteen chips, just one more than the first time. He neither showed no progress nor met the passing standard. Teacher Zhang, helpless, could only tell him to "practice for an extra half hour this afternoon" and didn't punish him with laps.

After morning training, Xiao Wu handed him a handkerchief. "Tang San, you could clearly have evaded more wooden chips just now. Why did you deliberately slow down? Teacher Zhang was almost angry."

"Evading too much consumes Soul Power, and I have extra practice this afternoon. I need to conserve my energy," Tang San wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Let's go to the cafeteria to eat. We need to go early today; if we're late, the pork rib soup will be gone."

As they walked towards the cafeteria, they ran into Yu Xiaogang. He was holding yesterday's book on plant-based Martial Soul perception, likely here to get it back. "Tang San, have you finished the book? After training this afternoon, come to my office. I'll teach you 'perception prediction techniques,' which can allow you to anticipate the direction of an enemy's attack in advance, which will be helpful for your future combat."

Tang San's heart stirred, wanting to find an excuse to refuse, but before he could speak, Yu Xiaogang continued, "Don't make excuses. I've already told the cafeteria to save you a bowl of pork rib soup. Eat quickly and then go to training. After the afternoon's extra practice, come straight to my office."

With no other choice, Tang San nodded. "Understood, Master." He handed the book over, but in his mind, he was calculating – the afternoon's extra practice and the Master's guidance were connected. He needed to find a way to reduce his consumption and not let his Soul Power be depleted.

The morning's extra class was "Soul Power Sustained Perception Practice" – students were to use their Martial Souls to continuously perceive their surroundings for half an hour without interruption, to train their perceptual endurance. Wang Hu and the others' Martial Soul perception ranges were all over one zhang, with obvious Soul Power fluctuations. Only Tang San's Blue Silver Grass perception range was reduced to half a zhang, and he only used twenty percent of his Soul Power, appearing as if it could be interrupted at any moment.

"Tang San, expand your perception range a bit more! With such a small range, how can you train endurance?" Teacher Li, who was in charge of the training, walked over, frowning.

"Teacher, my Soul Power is limited. If I expand the range, I won't be able to last half an hour. The half-zhang range is just enough to last until the end. It's better than interrupting midway," Tang San quickly said, his Blue Silver Grass weakening a bit. "Look, this has already consumed thirty percent of my Soul Power. If I expand it further, I definitely won't be able to hold on."

Teacher Li thought for a moment and felt his reasoning was sound, so he nodded. "Alright, then maintain this range and don't interrupt midway."

[Used "lasting until the end" as an excuse to narrow the perception range, avoiding excessive consumption, Slacking Value +1, current total 7 points]

After the extra class, Tang San hurried towards the cafeteria – he hadn't eaten much in the morning and was already hungry. As soon as he arrived at the cafeteria, he saw Wang Hu and the other two waiting for him. "Tang San, your perception range was too small just now. We could all sense things thirty zhang away, but you only had half a zhang."

"My Soul Power is weak, there's nothing I can do. I'll take it slow," Tang San picked up a meat bun and ate slowly. "I have extra practice and Master's guidance this afternoon. Hurry up and eat, don't be late."

The afternoon's extra practice was "Perception Evasion Error Correction" – Teacher Zhang personally guided students who hadn't passed, correcting their movements one-on-one. When it was Tang San's turn, Teacher Zhang had him stand in a circle and threw wooden chips slowly. "Concentrate when perceiving. Spread out your Blue Silver Grass a bit more and predict the direction of the wooden chips in advance!"

Tang San followed the instructions, slightly expanding his perception range, but deliberately slowing down his prediction speed. Each time, he would evade "just in time" when the wooden chip was about to reach him. Occasionally, he would "accidentally" step outside the circle. "Teacher, I'm still not predicting accurately. I keep stepping out of the circle." He feigned guilt. "Could you throw them a bit slower? I need to adapt."

Teacher Zhang, helpless, had to slow down the speed of throwing the wooden chips. By the end of the extra practice, Tang San had only managed to evade fifteen wooden chips, barely meeting the standard. Teacher Zhang had no choice but to tell him to "practice again tomorrow."

[Used "adapting to the speed" as an excuse to reduce training intensity, avoiding excessive consumption, Slacking Value +1, current total 8 points]

After the extra practice, Tang San dragged his "exhausted" body towards Yu Xiaogang's office. In the office, Yu Xiaogang had already set up several wooden stakes, each with a rope tied to it. The other end of the rope was attached to a wooden chip. "Today I'll teach you 'perception prediction techniques.' Stand in the middle, use your Blue Silver Grass to perceive the direction the wooden chips on the stakes are swaying, predict the trajectory of the rope's swing in advance, and evade the chip's attack."

Tang San stood in the middle as instructed and summoned his Blue Silver Grass. He deliberately used only thirty percent of his Soul Power and slowed down his perception speed. Each time, he would evade "just in time" when the wooden chip was about to reach him. Occasionally, he "failed to predict" and let the wooden chip brush past his clothes.

"Predict earlier! Concentrate when perceiving!" Yu Xiaogang frowned. "Didn't you practice properly in the afternoon? Why hasn't your prediction speed improved at all?"

"Master, the afternoon's extra practice consumed too much of my Soul Power. I'm a bit tired now, and I can't speed up my prediction." Tang San feigned dizziness and held his forehead. "Perhaps we can practice again tomorrow? I'll have more energy tomorrow and will definitely learn it."

Yu Xiaogang glanced at him and took out a Soul Power Recovery Pill from his robe. "Take this to recover some Soul Power. You must learn the basic prediction today."

With no other choice, Tang San took the pill and ate it. After a short while, his Soul Power recovered considerably. He had no choice but to slightly increase his prediction speed, barely evading ten wooden chip attacks, but he still deliberately lagged by half a beat, failing to reach the proficient standard.

"Forget it, we'll stop here for today. We'll consolidate tomorrow," Yu Xiaogang said helplessly. "Go back and rest well, and don't make excuses tomorrow."

[Forced to increase prediction speed, no Slacking Value gained, but reduced excessive performance by "lagging by half a beat," no deduction]

By the time he left the office, it was already dark. Xiao Wu was waiting for him at the door. "Tang San, why did you take so long to come out? I've been waiting for you for an hour. I thought you were being punished by the teacher."

"No, Master was teaching me perception prediction. It took a long time to barely learn it," Tang San stretched. "Let's go to the cafeteria to eat; I'm starving."

As they walked towards the cafeteria, Tang San mused, Today I gained 4 points of Slacking Value. Although Master forced me to practice techniques, overall it was still a gain. As long as I maintain this pace in the future, I'll definitely accumulate enough Slacking Value for the next exchange of Soul Power.

The lights of the cafeteria were on. Tang San looked at the food in front of him and ate slowly. He knew that as long as he persisted in slacking, his "peak slacking path" would continue, and even with the Master's supervision and extra practice, he could find opportunities to slack off and steadily grow stronger.